A MAN who robbed a lone woman in an early morning incident dropped a bank card containing his details as he ran off with her bag.

The information on the card led to Kevin Bowler’s arrest. He is now starting a 22-month prison sentence for what a judge described as “a most unpleasant offence”.

Bowler, 43, targeted the woman as she sat outside her place of work at Dean Clough in Halifax at 5am on June 11 this year.

Prosecutor Michael Smith told Bradford Crown Court that Bowler first asked her for a light before walking off and then approaching her again.

In a robbery partly caught on CCTV footage he grabbed her handbag and wrestled it away from her with such force that he yanked the victim to her feet. The bag’s strap broke in the tussle causing a minor cut to her hand.

Bowler then ran off, but items fell from his pocket including a bank card with his name on it.

The victim later told police that the bag contained her house keys, a bank card, and other property worth £65. She said the incident had left her shaken and no longer feeling safe to wait outside her workplace.

Bowler was arrested almost seven weeks later on July 30 and initially denied any involvement. However, after being picked out in an identity parade he admitted the robbery.

The court heard that Bowler, of Wells Court, Rawson Street North, Halifax, had a lengthy criminal record including driving offences, possession of drugs, being drunk and disorderly, assault, battery, criminal damage, affray, and possession of a bladed article, was under a suspended sentence order at the time of the incident.

Mitigating, Saf Salam described the robbery as “unsophisticated” and “opportunistic”, and that Bowler’s life was “chaotic” at the time. He was living in a “crack den” and struggling with drug and alcohol misuse.

Sentencing Bowler, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, Mr Recorder Paul Reid said: “You have led a miserable life punctuated by constant alcohol and drug misuse.

“This was a most unpleasant offence.

“It’s my judgment that this offence is so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence can possibly be justified, and I’m sure you appreciate that.

“It’s time for you to sort yourself out, rid yourself of this drug habit while you are in custody, and do better with your life when you are released from imprisonment.”